Running head: KUCHENA CELESTINO SUPPLY CHAINS AND POLICIES
Kuchena Celestino Participant Observation
C. Kuchena
University of Zambia
GSB 8103
Dr. Abubaker Qutieshat
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I was struggling to settle on which site to select for my observation assignment. On
Tuesday afternoon my phone rang. A lady on the other end of the phone requested to speak to
Celestino Kuchena. I responded showing that I was the one speaking. She then advised that I had
been shortlisted for an interview at the National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe
(NatPharm) headquarters at 1030am the following day. NatPharm is a government-owned entity
mandated to procure, warehouse, and distribute medicines for the public sector. It is a successor
to the Central Medical Stores. A couple of weeks earlier I had applied for the Masvingo branch
manager position and this was the interview for that position. The lady on the telephone spoke in
a rather nonchalant manner which is typical of the current public sector employees. She also did
not care to introduce herself, but this did not surprise me. Some employees hardly get any
training on telephone etiquette.
Preparing for the field!
It so happened that I was quite busy on this day but I tried squeezing in time to prepare
for the interview. My plan was simple, I was to focus on conflict management skills, refine my
organizational theories as well as supply chain management principles. As I was recapping all
this material, it then hit me that I could go earlier to the NatPharm headquarters and sit in their
reception to observe. This would be my first formal interview in over eight years so I got a new
shirt, suit, and tie. I got up on Wednesday morning and suited up then went by my workplace to
check on a few things. As one colleague remarked, “ndange ndashaiwa kuti James Bond abva
kupi!” (I was wondering where James Bond had come from) upon seeing me. She was surprised
to see me in a black suit, white shirt, and grey tie!
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Arriving at the scene
I arrived at NatPharm with over an hour to spare. After the customary sanitization and
booking into the security guard’s book, I was advised to park outside the premises. Incidentally,
the guard asks for the name of the visitor, identification number, and vehicle registration number
but without verifying the identification particulars. As I was about to enter the gate, I met a
senior colleague who is the director of pharmacy services in the Ministry of Health and Child
Care. We exchanged pleasantries and he remarked that “wauya kubasa, mapfekero ako haasi
emunhu auya kuzotsvaga basa” Your dressing is for someone coming for work rather than for an
interview. Perhaps I exuded confidence. I entered the reception area and greeted the lady at the
reception and we exchanged the usual pleasantries. I remarked that perhaps I had come too early
to which she responded that this was so much better. I was directed to the seating area. I sat on a
two-seater fabric sofa in a dark blue color. My back was to the wall and to my left was a window
with blinds slightly pulled open. There was another fabric sofa on this side. To my right was a
passage to the toilets (passage extended going where my back was) as well as stairs to the first
floor.
Getting comfortable observing
The reception area was also to my far right. My immediate right had another fabric chair,
it was a bit centrally in the room facing the fabric chair to my left. The wall I faced had an art
piece showing three pottery objects in brown, black, and white. This was centrally placed on the
wall, to its left was the NatPharm headquarters fire site map, this map was so small and placed
high up that I wondered whether anyone had really looked at it or it was there to tick a box. This
reminds me of some of the challenges of a positivistic approach to research. The fire site map is
there but does it serve the intended purpose? Below this site map was a poster on Covid-19
courtesy of the National Aids Council of Zimbabwe. On this wall, to my right, placed high up
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was a picture of the president. Very few organizations operate without this picture displayed
somewhere prominently. To my left and forming a right angle with the wall, I faced was the
entrance which proceeded directly to the reception area. With backs to this wall were two
wooden chairs with leather tops that were about two or so meters apart. I thought it would be
awkward to sit there as people went in and out. As one entered and arrived at the reception, to
their left would be a passage leading to some offices, and to their right would be the passage to
the toilets.
I sat on the sofa trying to be comfortable, in front of me was a wooden table with four
rectangular glass tops with wooden planks filling the space between the glass. On top of the tap
was a sanitizer bottle placed on the near-right quadrant sitting atop a newspaper page that
appeared very dated. The bottom tier of this table, directly beneath the sanitizer bottle, had some
magazines. I did not count how many they were but I noticed the second one in the pile was from
November 2013, nearly eight years ago! I looked at the metal screen door that was led to the
stairs. There was a biometric scanner that appeared to control the locking of this screen. The
screen door itself was open and held open by a grey string of just over a meter in length (my
estimation). I thought that perhaps this screen is only locked as everyone is leaving and opened
in the morning as people come in. I wondered whose fingerprint (or how many fingerprints) were
required to open the screen door.
As I sat there, I was torn between simply soaking in the surroundings or continue
preparing for the interview. I needed to run through a historical view of NatPharm and the
challenges it had been facing of late. My solution was to do both. A quick search on Google
brought up an article regarding corruption within NatPharm and suggested solutions so I
downloaded it and began reading. After a short while, two gentlemen emerged from the passage
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leading to the offices as they sought to exit the building. They were engaged in a cordial
conversation. One of them raised their hand to acknowledge me while continuing in conversation
but the other responded to my greeting verbally. Following their exit, I resume my reading. After
some time, a gentleman in a black leather jacket passes with no greeting from me or him. He did
not even look towards me so I thought maybe I will let this one pass without greetings. This may
be a challenge of being a participant-observer. Should I conclude that he was rude because he did
not greet me or was I rude? After all, I did not greet him? This scenario would play itself over
several times as I sat on the sofa.
After some time, a man whom I thought was a general hand or cleaner arrived at the
reception from the side of the offices pushing a cardboard box that contained litter. He chatted
with the lady at the reception as he went about his pushing of the box. Momentarily he decided
to exit the building and greeted me pleasantly. Later on, from the direction of the passage to the
toilets emerged a heavily built man in an orange T-shirt and a work suit bottom sipping what
may have been a warm beverage. I remembered this man from my days working for the
directorate of pharmacy services and he was rumored to have been a soldier seconded to
NatPharm. Commonly, soldiers are seconded to civilian organizations especially quasigovernment ones. This man’s stride as he proceeded to the stairs showed no urgency of tasks
waiting to be done, he may as well have been on a vacation, I thought to myself. Could it be he
was so sure of his job security or he had other reasons for not hurrying to get to his workstation?
In the observing groove
I was happy to see a lady truck driver I recognized who also happens to be a sister to a
UNICEF driver (whom I shared one work trip when I was still with the directorate of pharmacy
services). She did not look towards me so again, no greetings. My mind wandered back to the
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man who had pushed his box of litter and realized that we had only made greetings when his path
had come closest to where I sat which made me think of a dilemma I always face when meeting
people: when is the right moment to greet each other? Is it when you lock eyes or when closest? I
am still to settle this one. As NatPharm employees entered and exited the building, I recognized
and was recognized by some and there was visible happiness on both ends. It always feels good
meeting someone you recognize after years even if you never really talked before. I think this
applies even to other cultures. I had been booked for a 1030 interview so when a young lady
appeared descending on the stairs, I thought I was it was my time. It had caught my attention that
I had not seen anyone else yet for the interview but I brushed it aside thinking maybe mine had
been the first on the list. The lady inquired if I was Mr. X (name redacted) to which I responded
in the negative but added my name for good measure. She then went back without advising me
of my fate and I realized that something which happens in life in general. She only came down to
look for Mr. X but had not budgeted on advising anyone else who may have come for the
interview. This is an “ambulance approach”, focus on what you have been sent to the exclusion
of everything else.
There was an incident that reminded me of how an organization’s processes may not flow
so smoothly even the routine ones. A lady, whom I remembered that worked in the billing
department, entered the building with an envelope which she left at the reception. She said this
contained leave forms and returned pay slips that had been “lost”! It appears whoever had been
tasked with distributing payslips did not know where some employees worked. I thought it was
best to visit their ablution facilities. Clean toilets usually mean good organization (the verb not
the noun). The toilets would be to my right (as the lady at the reception had told me) but I
thought it would be the first right turn because further along the passage were a pile of over 12
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bags of cement, a lawnmower, and some other implement. I was wrong, the entrance to the toilet
was the one partially blocked by the “hardware” I mentioned. The toilet was clean and toilet
paper was available (the absence of which can be “terrifying”). Tap water was available but so
was a big plastic bin now plowing a new trade as a water reservoir. Potable water may run out in
Zimbabwe, one is advised to have a plan B in place. I came out with good impressions despite
the partial blockage of the entrance. Observing and writing notes seemed a bit awkward because
I have not done this for a long time now. The write-up also made me realize that I have missed
narrative writing.
Afterthoughts
In summary, though I was a bit nervous because of the pending interview, I couldn’t help
but notice that people in an organization will not relate strictly based on the relationships created
by the organizational structure or hierarchy. People will find a way to create relationships based
on the broader society. There may remain formal exchanges but generally, people adapt and use
relate as they would in the wider society from which they come. Reflecting on my stay there and
watching how people worked I hypothesized that the top-level employees seem to have
embraced change but the lower ranks may still be dragging their feet. The latter are still
comfortable in applying minimal effort which calls for various motivational and broad
management theories.
If I get this job then I would be able to add participant observation as a research method.
This is because this method requires the researcher's immersion in an array of activities over a
protracted period to enable them to get the full account of processes (Kawulich, 2005). Being
one of the key players in the pharmaceutical supply chain then I would have a better grasp of the
context and phenomenon under study (DeWalt & DeWalt, 2002). This would increase the
KUCHENA CELESTINO SUPPLY CHAINS AND POLICIES
validity of the research. Kawulich (2012) cautions that covert observation raises ethical
considerations therefore overt observations are preferred. Researchers going for this method
should reflect on their position in the observation-participation continuum and how this will
affect the type of data collected as well as the resultant analysis (Boccagni & Schrooten, 2018).
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References
Boccagni P., & Schrooten M. (2018) Participant Observation in Migration Studies: An Overview
and Some Emerging Issues. In: Zapata-Barrero R., Yalaz E. (eds) Qualitative Research in
European Migration Studies. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer, Cham.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76861-8_12
DeWalt, K. M. & DeWalt, B. R. (2002). Participant observation: a guide for fieldworkers.
Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Kawulich, B.B. (2005). Participant Observation as a Data Collection Method. Qualitative Social
Research, 6, 43.
Kawulich, Barbara. (2012). Collecting data through observation.